


Medal Of Honor

by ddh1973



Category: Glee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:35:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23808493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddh1973/pseuds/ddh1973
Summary: Rachel's Grandfather, James Berry comes to town and shakes things up at McKinley High School.  Takes place after Finn and Rachel's breakup in season 2.
Relationships: Rachel Berry/Finn Hudson
Kudos: 3





	Medal Of Honor

**Author's Note:**

> I originally started this story on Fanfiction.net and after writing the first seven chapters, I lost inspiration on my Glee stories after the death of Cory Monteith, may he rest in peace. At that point, I allowed khazrn43 to finish the story for me and they did an amazing job with it.
> 
> I have recently gotten back into reading Glee fanfiction and found myself inspired again and decided to post my version here since I have since started posting my stories here instead of on fanfiction.net and finish it the way I had originally intended.

Three months had passed since Sectionals and Rachel was sitting in the choir room beside Mercedes, with whom she had struck up a friendship with. Kurt had brought them together and the three of them had become inseparable, well as much as they could with Kurt two hours away at Dalton Academy.

It was everything she could do not to stare longingly at Finn, who was sitting with Quinn, holding her hand the way they used to. It had hurt so much when the news of him renewing his relationship with ex had reached her. The knowledge that he could forgive Quinn for having sex with Puck because she felt fat and was drunk, while she had only kissed Puck in a moment of stupidity caused by Santana's taunts in the hallway broke her heart. Sometimes it was everything she could do not to march over to him, slap his face and call him a hypocrite. It was only her friendship with Mercedes that kept her from completely losing it.

A noise at the door caused everybody to look up at it and Mr. Schuester to stop speaking about this week's assignment to see a handsome six foot tall African American male in his mid sixties, wearing the uniform of an General in the Army step into the room. He glanced around the room until a brilliant smile came across his handsome face as Rachel jumped up out of her chair and rushed to his now open arms.

"Grandpa!"

There were tears and laughter coming from them both as grandfather and granddaughter talked to each other and ignored everybody else in the room. Her teammates and teacher watched in awe as Rachel and her grandfather had their reunion.

Finn couldn't stop staring at her as he noticed that the traces of sadness his ex girlfriend had been carrying around with her was now gone. He could feel Quinn stiffen beside him and her gaze burn into his skin but he didn't care. The only reason he had jumped into a relationship with her again was to hurt Rachel after her duet with Puck before the championship game for the football team a month and a half ago. He still couldn't listen to Lady Antebellum's 'Need You Now', without wanting to throw something in anger or beat the hell out of her former best friend.

"Huh, who would thought the dwarf tranny actually has a family member that loves her. I thought they hated her as much as the rest of us do," Santana said, hatefully. She didn't realize what a mistake that was until it was way too late to save her.

Rachel pulled away from her grandfather a look of raw pain in her dark eyes as she turned to face Santana. Before she could open her mouth to say anything, her grandfather stepped away from her and marched over to where Mr. Schuester was standing by the piano, not saying a word to reprimand Santana.

"Son, are you the teacher of this classroom?"

Will stood up straight, instantly intimidated by the presence of the man standing before him. He started to stammer and stutter as the man then gave him a look of pure disgust before waking over to face Santana, who was sitting in her usual spot in the back row.

"You are useless! What's your name?"

"W...Will...William S...Schuester, sir.

"James Berry, retired General of the United States Army. If you can't enforce some discipline then let me show you how it's done, young man."

James stormed over to face the seat where Santana was sitting in the back row. His face was set in a stern manner that made Santana's classmates actually feel sorry for what was about to happen.

"Young lady, what's your name?"

His stance was one he had used over the years when addressing his troops and even bitchy Santana Lopez wasn't immune to it.

"S..San..Santana L..Lopez."

"Oh, I've heard of you." His voice dripping with disdain. "Carlos and Marcella's daughter. The one who caused my granddaughter to lose her boyfriend by taunting her to the point she gave into a moment of pure idiocy that caused him to break up with her."

A look of shock came over Santana's face at General Berry's words. She could feel Finn glaring at her after he had realized that it had been her who had pushed Rachel into Puck's arms.

"I wonder what your parent's would say if I informed them of what you just said about my granddaughter in front of me. They know my reputation and would believe every word I told them"

Icy anger came into his dark eyes as he continued his lecture, pointing over at Rachel, who was being comforted by Mercedes at the door. "I'll have you know, that child is a little girl because I changed her diapers when she was a baby. I don't know what Carlos is thinking by allowing you to act like this but if his father, your grandfather, was here and seen how you were acting, Hector would be very disappointed in your behavior. If Rachel acted like that, she would be in so much trouble with me but my angel girl knows I don't tolerate disrespect. You and your classmates ought to be grateful your teacher doesn't seem to care about whether or not you treat other with respect for each other's feelings because none of you want someone like me as your teacher."

James marched back over to Rachel, smiled gently at Mercedes and held his sobbing granddaughter in his arms. He glared at everybody in the room before leading Rachel out, cradling her to his chest.

* * *

It was now after school and Finn was leaving, trying to avoid Quinn and the other members of New Directions. Anger filled him as he thought about what General Berry had said about Santana taunting Rachel to make her do what she did with Puck. So he had talked to his former best friend, who had told him about the incident in the hallway where Santana had walked past him and was flirting with him. How it had looked like he was flirting back at Santana.

From what Finn remembered about that day, he had glanced at her and smiled at how stupid she was acting but hadn't thought much about it. The fact that Rachel had seen it and that Lopez had taunted her as she went by her, telling her some bullshit about him taking her to dinner after having sex with her, pissed him off.

It put a new perspective on the events before Sectionals, it had left his self conscious then girlfriend vulnerable to Puck and his games. It had also pissed him off to know that other people had been so bored with their own miserable lives that they had taken pleasure in destroying him and Rachel.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as the voice of James Berry carried over to him, calling his name.. The man didn't sound happy and right now, Finn didn't blame him. After hearing the whole story about how Rachel had actually ended up kissing Puck, he was ready to punch his best friend in the face.

Finn stopped and turned to face the man walking up to him. He might have been taller but the older man was scary and looked ready to kill him.

"You and I need to talk. My son's house, six thirty. Be there or I inform your mother that you ignored the request of the man who held your father as he lay dying in the desert. Am I understood?"

Finn gaped at Mr. Berry before slowly nodding his head to say yes.

"Don't nod at me, boy. I don't respond to nods, use the voice God gave you."

"Yes sir."

"Good. Rachel is going out with your step brother and their friend Mercedes so she won't be there and my son and his partner are going out of town on business, so there will be no one else there to interrupt our conversation."

James Berry stalked off, marching down the hall as Finn shook in fear at the meeting that was to come. His night was going to be pure hell.

**Author's Note:**

> In the original version of this story, the part with Rachel's Grandfather confronting Santana was too harsh and no adult should resort to personal put downs and take themselves down to a teenager's level to get their point across when they disagree with how the other person is acting . I toned down that part. I also made some changes to the part at the end with Finn finding out exactly what led to Rachel kissing Puck, I went into more detail in what he was thinking and feeling in that moment.
> 
> That being said, Mr. Berry has a military background and comes at things from a certain point of view that will come across as harsh to other people.


End file.
